The reveal of a second MMO in the Final Fantasy series was one of E3 2009's biggest surprises, especially since it would be releasing so soon after FFXIII. DS talks to producer Hiromichi Tanaka about the lessons learned from XI, the beta process and the PS3 version still in development.

How will you attract new players to Final Fantasy XIV?
"The player can improve themselves naturally while enjoying attractive stories, drama expressed with cutscenes and quests called Guildleves. These are all meant to help the player to get swiftly used to the world of FFXIV, even those who are more familiar with offline titles of Final Fantasy. If you have never played MMORPG before, you are the very kind of gamer who should try this game."

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What lessons have you learned from XI that you'll take into XIV?
"We wanted to take positive points of FFXI and improve them further for the new game. One prime example is the concept that the same character has several classes ('job' in FFXI) to choose from. We based the system on that in FFXI and additionally made it possible to change classes simply by equipping a different weapon or item. This is what we call Armoury System. There are lessons we have learned from FFXI as well. One major point is the fact that gameplay can be restricted for those without much free time to play, although this issue has been dramatically rectified since the beginning of FFXI. We had this firmly in mind when we designed the new game in many aspects ranging from field move system to structure of the Guildleve."

What kind of information did you obtain from the PC beta in July?
"The beta test in July was chiefly for stabilising the cross-region, around-the-clock operation. [From Phase 2] we have gathered many views on issues like game manipulation and balance and reflected them on beta version, which is due to be in use [for the open beta]."

The PlayStation 3 version has been pushed back into March 2011. Are there any specific reasons for the delay?
"Data management took us longer than we had initially anticipated because of the issue of memory capacity gaps."

There are plans for the PC and PS3 versions to connect and play together. Will this be a challenge to implement from a technical and design standpoint?
"Of course we have a number of issues to tackle. However, we believe that, except for simultaneous development, any other options such as porting would be unrealistic as it would require the same amount of labour as it would to develop two MMOs separately. As far as we are concerned, there is no other solution but managing both versions by the same server."

Is there a worry that PC owners will gain an unfair advantage between the release of the PC and PS3 versions?
"Gameplay itself depends on the server in use and so no difference will be experienced between platforms."

The Achievements in the Xbox 360 version of Final Fantasy XI were too time-consuming for many players. How are you approaching the Trophies in the PS3 release?
"I am fully aware of the criticism. On reflection, we knew very little about Achievements when we made decisions on the system. As for FFXIV, we are hoping to present a wide variety of Achievements ranging from simple ones to ones you would need a long time to complete. On top of Trophies for PS3, there are also plans to make similar items available on the web."

It was rumoured that micro-transactions were being considered as a business model at one point. Why did you opt for subscription-only in the end?
"That is news to me. We have never even considered micro-transactions at all."

Final Fantasy XI was supported by copious amounts of expansions and add-on packs years after release. Can we expect a similar level of support for XIV?
"A part of the development team has already started working on expansions."

Final Fantasy XIV is currently in open beta and will be released for PC on September 30 and for PS3 in March 2011.